Gray Coat

NT40SE 1 4731 0466.

(NT 4731 0466) Pele-house (NR) (remains of)

Pele-House, Gray Coat: All that can now be seen at this site, on the SE slopes of Gray Coat, are low mounds covering the base of an oblong building measuring 26 ft from NE to SW by 13 1/2 ft within walls about 4 3/4 ft thick, but an exploratory trench has disclosed the rybats of an entrance in the SE gable, identical with those found in pele-houses in the county of Roxburghshire (NT60NW 3, NT60NE 9, NT61SW 5, and NT61SE 18). The masonry, where exposed, is of smaller stones than is commonly found in such structures, but it is tempting to identify these remains as belonging to the same class.

Some 25 ft SE, there is a small excavated hollow containing the remains of an oblong house, and the foundations of a second house are traceable WNW of the pele-house. Broken tobacco-pipes have been recovered from mole-casts in proximity to these buildings. These latter buildings may be associated with some turf enclosures near by, and also with the fairly recent cultivation that seems to have taken place all over this side of the valley. (The 'pele-houses' with which this site is compared are dated to the second half of the 16th century by the RCAHMS.)

RCAHMS 1956, visited 1946

The remains of this pele-house are as described by the RCAHMS. The remains of the two houses to the SE and WNW of the pele-house are too vague for survey.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 23 September 1960

The Dod was in the possession of a Robert Elliot in 1583, at which time it was called Dodrig. The principal building there was a small tower house which in common with many others, was either altered or abandoned in the 18th century. The buildings of the Dod at that time were down by the burn opposite the junction of the Barry Sike.

Information from M Robson, Hawick Museum; Hawick Express 14 May 1979

Dr Robson confirms that the above tower (the only known tower in the area of the Dod) is that on OS 6" at NT 4731 0466.

Visited by OS (JRL) 19 December 1979